Hamilton Study Abroad Students Celebrate Thanksgiving

While many Hamilton students spent Thanksgiving in study abroad programs on other continents far from home, faculty and program directors did their best to bring a bit of the American holiday to the students.

Field Director of the Associated Colleges in China Program Yin Zhang noted, “It’s hard to imagine how to celebrate Thanksgiving holiday far away from one’s family while studying abroad in Beijing, not to mention the difficulty of finding whole turkeys in Chinese markets. However, the Associated Colleges in China (ACC) program successfully organized a Thanksgiving dinner party for all students and Chinese teachers this year.

Zhang continued, “Although most western food is fairly pricy and difficult to find in Beijing, students were still able to prepare the dinner completely from scratch and on their own in the dorm kitchen. Catharine Crandall ’15 made cookies and sweet potato casserole. After she carefully converted the recipe temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius, Catharine put the sweet potato casserole into the oven. She worried that the marshmallows on the top would not be as good-looking as those her mother makes, but in the end her sweet potato casserole turned out to be perfect! It was a favorite among the students.

“Wilne Ledesma Arias ’15 also helped by recreating his family’s Russian salad while Kevin Rovelli ’15 worked with another classmate to bake a delicious batch of green beans. The turkeys were ordered from a local western restaurant and tasted quite tender. For many students it was their first time spending the Thanksgiving holiday without their families, however celebrating the holiday with their peers and sharing American culture with their teachers in China was a fulfilling experience that they will never forget.”

A little closer to the U.S, in Hamilton’s Junior Year in France program in Paris, Burgess Professor of French and Program Director Bonnie Krueger reported, “We had 26 people over at the Hamilton apartment, 31 rue St Placide, for a meal that was mostly home cooked....all but the turkeys, which we ordered from a caterer since the oven is too small to accommodate three birds!

“But my daughter and I made all the rest...sweet potatoes, green beans, Brussels sprouts, two kinds of stuffing (vegetarian and sausage), mashed potatoes, cranberries sauce, and pumpkin, pecan and apple tarte tatin...students brought some desserts as well. Very traditionally American. So much food...yet only a few pieces of pie left over!

“A very happy time, as you can see in the photos...nice to know that Hamilton students across the globe are keeping the tradition of Thanksgiving alive.”

Professor of Hispanic Studies and Academic Year in Spain director Joana Sabadell-Nieto reported on Thanksgiving in Madrid. “We spent it all together with a big dinner (26 students and 5 members of the staff) and it was lovely.
It is incredible that the semester is almost over and we are all looking forward for the next group (37!) All and all a very good year...”